How do you solve a problem like Casey?
by BadgebunnyUK
Summary: A collection of little scenes rising from the new episodes with the possibility of turning into a story of it's own. SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4. Summer finale chapter up.
1. chp 1

_A/N- Just some mildly amusing post 401 rambling._

How do we solve a problem like Casey?

Jane is seated across from Maura on the Doctors sofa, with a beer in her hand, there is nothing much on television and so they are chatting about nothing special when Jane raises something that has been playing on her mind since her night with Casey.

"Maur, as my best friend, do you think I am incapable of being in a relationship?" Jane asks sincerely.

Maura stops her wine glass midway to her lips, surprised by Jane's sudden show of vulnerability.

"Absolutely not." She reply's definitely.

Jane smile's an unconvinced but touched kind of smile.

"You can certainly be in a relationship. You just need to open up to the idea of letting Casey in a little more." Maura continues.

"And giving up some of my independence?" Jane asks miserably.

"Maybe a little." Maura allows. "But think about it, you already do a lot of things that couples do, with me, voluntarily. We do groceries together, we cook together, we even negotiate sharing a car a lot of the time, though you could work on your control issues when it comes to driving."

Jane looks confused. "So, if I just transfer some of those things over to Casey I will actually be having a relationship with him?"

Maura nods and takes a sip of wine. "I think so."

Jane looks no happier, but feeling like she has hit upon something, Maura goes on.

"How about we confront some of your fears with regards to Casey?" She suggests enthusiastically.

Jane looks doubtful.

"Ooh I have a scenario!" Maura say's bordering on excited now. "Let's role play!"

Jane groans. "Really?" She whines.

"Okay, I'll be me and you be you." Maura instructs.

"I think I can handle that." Jane reply's, wondering how much wine her friend has had.

Maura holds her hand up to her face, pinkie and thumb extended as if the hand itself is a telephone.

"Hi Jane, It's Maura." She say's into her hand.

Jane looks deeply unimpressed and takes a drink rather than join in .

"Come on." Maura tells her. "Do you want to be alone forever?"

Jane almost spits her mouthful of beer back into the bottle. "Fine. But just so you know, this is really dumb!" Jane says. " And I refuse to do the hand." She demonstrates by mimicking Maura's phone hand gesture.

"Fine, you can be on hands free." Maura concedes. "So." She says, talking into her hand again. "Jane, could you come over I feel awful."

"What is it?" Jane asks bluntly.

Maura raises an eyebrow. "You are as unsympathetic in role play as you are in real life." She remarks.

"Well that just means I am being realistic." Jane defends.

Maura rolls her eyes, but goes on.

"I am so worried about my mob boss biological Father's impending trial and hurt by my ungrateful organ procuring Mother." Maura say's in a faux sad tone. "Please could you come over here and I can cry into your shoulder all night long?"

"Maura what is this supposed to ..."

"Just answer the question." Maura says, finally becoming impatient.

"Okay...Sure Maura, I'll be right over." Jane says.

Maura hangs up her phone-hand. "Okay, now I am Casey." She says straightening up and trying to make herself large.

Jane looked suspicious.

"Was that Maura?" Maura said in a strange version of a slightly British deep voice.

"Yes, I am going over there? She needs me?" Jane said uncertainly.

"But I have booked a table at a fancy restaurant. You have been working late every night this week and now you are going to spend your one night off at Maura's place?"

"I...she..needs me? She is my best friend and she is going through some difficult stuff right now."' Jane say's reasonably.

"Don't go. I don't want you to." Casey/Maura says.

Jane frowns. "I have to go, Casey. We can do dinner another night. Alright?" Jane insists.

"No, it's not alright." Maura say's still in her Casey voice. "In order to make yourself emotionally available to me, you have to start with being physically available to me. I mean...by being here."

"I don't think he would say that." Jane say's now.

Maura sighed and gave up the play acting. "Alright maybe he would phrase it differently but it is a legitimate complaint he might have."

"Maura? Are we still exploring _my_ fears about Casey?" Jane said, placing her beer on the floor beside the couch and leaning forward to take Maura's hand in hers.

Maura shrugs. "Of course."

"You don't have to worry about losing me when Casey comes home okay?" Jane try's, looking Maura in the eye seriously.

"Jane, you can't possible keep up the intimacy of our friendship if you are going to have a successful relationship with Casey. Time constraints alone dictate that and that is something that _you _will have to accept before Casey returns. It is quite normal for friendships to take a backseat when one of the friends becomes involved with someone." Maura argues.

Jane is frowning throughout this. "Maybe I am just not cut out for a relationship." Jane dismisses as she begins to dwell on what Maura has just said.

"I'm getting another beer." Jane declares.

xxxx


	2. Further adventures in kidney stalking

_A/N- I am getting a little excited ahead of tomorrows episode! It looks like a good one! Anyway, This came out of last weeks episode and I thought that if I continue to be inspired by new episodes I may just tie all the ramblings together in a little story here. We will see how it goes._

Further adventures in kidney stalking.

"I thought you spoke to Kailan?" Jane accused impatiently.

"I did!" Maura said, looking sheepish.

"So? Why are we still following her? Have you been stalking her via facebook again?" Jane questioned.

"No." Maura said defensively. "I may have been privy to some of her tweetering." She threw in casually. Returning the small binoculars to her eyes and scanning the street again.

"It's tweet's! Your on Twitter now?" Jane asked in surprise.

"Frost signed me up to it and I can't stop it now." Maura explained calmly. "And anyway I am following the AMA the AJSP, TEDMED and ASIP, the American Society for Investigative Pathology." Maura added at the raised brow.

Jane nodded sympathetically. "So where is the wicked step-sister at tonight?" She asked, resigned to the ridiculousness of their situation and deciding just to play along.

"She is going to a bar, with a group of friends. It's called Velvet and tonight is a women only night." Maura informed Jane.

"Velvet? hmmmm...Hey aren't we right around the corner from that lesbian club?" Jane pointed out, swinging around to look out of the rear window of the car in the general direction.

"The Merch? Yes. I believe many of the clientele who frequent this bar do so as a prelude to the popular club night at Merch." Maura said simply, still choosing to look through the binoculars rather than at Jane.

"So it's a lesbian bar?" Jane simplified.

"Not exclusively, I think it's what they call gay friendly." Maura corrected.

Jane was quiet and now looked around curiously at a group of young women who were approaching the bar they were currently staking out.

A moment later she caught a glimpse of Kailan in her wing mirror, walking up the side of the street that Jane had parked on. Kailan was not alone and had her hand linked with a slightly taller and very attractive blonde girl.

"Get down!" Jane ordered as she tugged on Maura, who was obliviously looking at the opposite side of the street.

Maura dropped down into the footwell and turned to Jane. "Where?"

Jane pointed from her position slouched in her seat,feeling a little exposed but there was no way that she could squeeze into the position that Maura had managed.

"Come on!" Called Maura as she crawled through the narrow gap into the back seat.

"What the hell Maura?" Jane said, through gritted teeth.

"It's a better vantage point and there is more room to hide." Maura reasoned.

Jane realised the truth of that statement and not wanting to be the one caught spying on the young girl yet again, she clambered around her seat clumsily until she was crouched down on the back seat.

"I cannot believe you have me doing this!" She hissed at Maura.

Maura was too busy staring out of the window as her sister passed by the car with her friend. Luckily Jane had deliberately chosen the spot furthest away from any street lighting to park up in and the darkness of the night covered them from view.

Both women watched silently and Maura struggled to catch any of the words being spoken, until the pair had passed by and crossed the street. Maura turned around quickly and found herself up close to the detective.

"Did they seem very friendly to you?" Maura asked.

Jane shrugged. "Sure, they're friends right?"

"I mean, didn't there seem to be some unnecessary touching?" Maura mused. "And a little hair tossing? A flirty tone to their voice's? Very attentive body posturing?"

"What are you getting at Maura? All seemed normal to me." Jane admitted.

"Do you think it's possible that Kailan is gay?" Maura wondered allowed.

Jane frowned, wondering how they had got to gay. "I don't think, I mean I never got that vibe from her..."

"I suppose she could be exploring different facets of her sexual identity, College is often a time for experimentation and finding oneself, free from the confines of living at home and possibly in a community where your identity has already been assigned." Maura mused.

"Oh Maura! maybe your kidney made her gay!" Jane joked, smirking at a suddenly slightly worried looking Maura.

"That's ridiculous Jane. The reported cases of cellular memory in organ transplant recipients are spurious at best. Any significant changes in personality following a transplant can more easily be attributed to an overall improvement in health." Maura said defensively.

"Okay." Jane said slowly. "I was just expecting a "My kidney is not gay! " for a response but, whatever." Jane shrugged sitting upright in the back seat.

Maura frowned as she slumped beside Jane on the seat, bumping her shoulder against Jane's with a sigh.

"What am I doing?" She asked rhetorically and with a sad sigh.

"You wanna go home?" Jane asked.

Maura looked up from behind a pout and shook her head once. "Maybe we could go inside, just for a quick drink and then we may happen to bump into her and I can collect further data to test the hypothesis that my half sister is gay."

"Is that important?" Jane asked.

"Not really, I would just like to know things about her, things we may have in common ..or ...not."Maura admitted weakly.

"Maura if you just want to get to know her, this is probably not the way to go about it.

You should, you know borrow her shirt without asking or something." Jane suggested with a smirk.

"I would never!...oh...oh I see..." Maura had looked appalled until she realised Jane was joking. "If that is what you did with your siblings that would really explain a lot." Maura said gesturing to Jane's current ensemble distastefully.

"Okay, I''m done being supportive, lets go get a drink 007!" Jane said, jumping out of the back seat and thumping the car door shut.

xxxxxxx

_A/N- Thoughts? Feelings? Suggestions? xx_


	3. The Night Watch

_A/N- Meant to post this sooner but I have been camping all weekend in the sunshine!_

The Night Watch.

"Hey, you ready to go home?" Jane asked, popping her head around the door of Maura's office.

"Oh, that's okay Jane, they're dropping off my car in 30 minutes, I don't need a ride." Maura called out, looking up briefly from the computer screen at her desk.

Jane looked thoughtful for a moment. "Call em, get them to drop your car at home." She said, moving off again, not allowing any chance for protest. Which she wouldn't have encountered anyway as Maura immediately picked up her phone.

A few minutes later Maura brushed off the passenger side seat before slipping into Jane's car.

"So, what was the reason you wanted to take me home tonight?" Maura asked in her usual straightforward way.

Jane was busy searching her rear-view mirror. "No reason."

Maura watched her gaze. "Is anyone back there?" She said, anxiously turning in her seat.

"We'll soon find out." Jane said as she started up the engine, revving the car loudly.

Jane took a very convoluted route back to Maura's house, constantly looking into her rear view mirror.

"Was all that really necessary Jane?" Maura asked as they pulled up out front. "They know where I live."

"I was just taking them for a ride." Jane shrugged. "I don't like the idea of those guys watching you." Jane admitted, frowning.

"Jane, they are federal agents, not Paddy's men after all." Maura reasoned, though obviously touched by Jane's concern.

"Yeah, and I don't trust em. You'd better make sure you have all your drapes closed tonight." Jane warned.

"The french word "Voyeurism" translates literarily as "One who looks." One study from the 1990's found that 54% of men have voyeuristic fantasies and 42% have practiced some form of voyeurism." Maura told Jane seriously. " A later national study in Sweden also found 7.7% of the population, men and women, had engaged in voyeurism at some point."

Maura popped open her door and made to get out of the car. "In fact research suggests that acts of voyeurism occurs up to 150 times more frequently than police reports indicate." She finished.

Jane jumped out of the driver side door and spoke to Maura over the hood of her car. "That's it, I am coming in."

Maura looked innocently over at Jane and shrugged a shoulder. "Alright."

Jane glared across the street at a dark vehicle that was slowly coming to a stop just a few meters away. Maura turned and spotting the car she gave a friendly little wave as Jane came around to her side of the car and bustled her in to the house.

xxxxxxx

An hour later Jane was comfortably reclining on the sofa with a grilled cheese sandwich in one hand and a beer in the other, having discarded the plate which contained a colourful side salad that Maura had prepared for her.

Maura relaxed now too, having changed and eaten a healthy salad and only the corner of Jane's sandwich.

Jane considered Maura. "It was pretty rough seeing Hope today huh?" She asked, finishing her sandwich.

Maura raised the familiar disapproving eyebrow as Jane proceeded to pop each finger into her mouth in turn and suck them clean.

"I admit that I hadn't really expected for our paths to cross again in quite the circumstance which arose today." Maura frowned lightly and sipped at her wine glass.

"You know, at first I thought you and Hope were so similar, both brilliant doctors, smart, successful, beautiful, classy, but your not really like her." Jane decided. " Your kind, compassionate and gentle. You haven't let what you do for a living take that away. Which is rare."Jane said softly, her eyes communicating her sincerity.

"You know Jane, you are all of those things too." Maura pointed out, having shuffled slightly closer now and sliding an arm around Jane's middle as she came to rest her head on the detective's shoulder.

Jane looked down at where Maura had snuggled up against her side. "It sure look's that way." She chuckled.

"It must have been difficult for you too today, I do appreciate you calling Gabriel on my behalf." Maura offered.

Jane shrugged. "It was no big deal, I am sooo over Dean."

Maura raised her eyes curiously to Jane's. "Because of Casey?" She asked.

Jane shrugged. "No. I just don't think Dean was ever what I thought he was. Things never really got started with him, which turned out to be fine."

Maura nodded quietly. "And having Casey must help see that." She surmised.

Jane frowned. "I don't think we can say that I actually _have_ Casey." Jane admitted. "He has disappeared _again_, for who knows how long, or if I'll hear from him while he's away? And I am okay with that." Jane asserted honestly before her face crumpled into a frown.

"However...?" Maura asked.

"Shouldn't I _not_ be okay with that?" Jane asked uncertainly, the question left hanging in the air as Maura snuggled a little closer.

Xx

"What are they doing now?" Agent Reynolds asked impatiently, trying to get his hands on the only set of binoculars in the car.

Agent Farendinas dodged the move, holding the equipment to his chest possessively before again raising them to his eyes and turning away from his partner, with a disdainful look. "It's _my _turn dude."

"So, what can you see?" Reynold pressed.

"Hmmm, just the usual, snuggling on the sofa." Farendinas sighed unhappily.

"Tonight is the night, I can feel it." Reynold said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together, despite the scowl his partner shot him.

"They do look pretty cozy." Farendinas admitted more casually.

Over two hours later Farendinas was nudged by his partner who had excitedly grabbed at the binoculars.

"The downstairs lights have gone out!" He yelped.

Farendinas watched as the upper floor of the house suddenly became illuminated. The next thing he saw did not require the binoculars he would have had to pry from Reynolds hands, as he saw a figure appear in the bedroom window and saw one Jane Rizzoli. Jane mimicked the playful wave that hours earlier Dr Isles had sent them, though with a much more sarcastic smile, before she pulled the heavy drapes of Maura's bedroom securely shut.

"Arrggghhhh!" Reynolds cried.

xxxx


	4. Adventures in babysitting

_**A/N- So, last weeks episode was just so openly rizzle shipping that I found it difficult to find a scene I really wanted to exploit, the show had already done it for us. Instead I decided to use this chapter to show where the Jane in this story is at ,in her own mind relating to Maura and Casey and all-o-that. I am sooooo excited about tomorrows episode! Yay!**_

_**Picking up where 403 ends...**_

Adventures in babysitting.

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Maura said dreamily.

"What? Going for a walk with my brother?" Jane frowned sharply.

"No! I mean, Lydia. All she wants from life is a house full of children, dogs and love. Simple."

"Yeah she is." Jane shrugged, sitting T.J into a upright position on her lap. "Come on Maura, we have a dog, Bass and this little guy. We're not doing so bad." Jane said, holding T.J's up again so she could grin into his face.

"Mmm, it's badly. And you forgot that we also have each other." Maura corrected.

"I didn't forget. Anyways, I thought you were going to like...lay an egg or something?" Jane half shrugged.

"Freeze my eggs? I have looked into the process and I do have some reservations. I am not sure if continuing my genetic make up is really as desirable as I once thought." Maura admitted glumly.

"You mean the Doyle legacy?" Jane raised a brow.

"I don't even know if Hope is much better, I hardly know the woman and what I do know, does not lead me to believe she has a natural affinity toward motherhood."

"Well, they made you...maybe it was a case of two wrongs making a right." Jane said gently.

A bashful smile appeared on Maura's face and she averted her eyes from Jane, letting her hair fall a little around her face. "Well, you said you would give me a kidney once, how would you feel about giving me some of your eggs?"

Jane couldn't figure out if Maura was serious and she gave her a doubtful look. "Really? The Rizzoli genes are a better option? You did see the mess that my family is in right? The mess that Frankie left outside your house? The mess that Tommy makes everywhere? My divorced mother messing up your guest house?" Jane continued gruffly, she really did worry, that one day Maura would stop and take a look a the way Jane's family had completely emersed themselves into Maura's home and life and run screaming for the hills.

"Jane, your mother is the mother of all mothers, and she raised the three of you incredibly well. Tommy may have made some mistakes in the past, but he is a reformed character now." Maura argued. "And your all so close, I'd like my children to have that kind of familial bond."

"Yeah we are all up in each others business, it's swell." Jane said with forced enthusiasm as she tickled beneath T.J's chin, eliciting a small giggle from the smiling baby.

"Ooh, let me get out the toys that are appropriate for T.J's age and developmental stage." Maura excitedly hopped up from the sofa and headed down the hall, returning moments later with a box of brand new brightly coloured baby toys.

"You bought all of these for T.J? Or have you already started buying for your future offspring?" Jane teased, taking a weird looking stuffed blue face toy, from the top of the pile and looking uncertainly at it.

"Jane, playtime is important, not only for amusement but for education and physical development. The first three tears are when the brain develops, these years affect a child's life more than any other period. Children have distinct needs specific to their developmental stages. Vision, tactile response, hand-eye coordination and motor skills will all be assisted by the first toys they play with." Maura continued as she placed the box on the floor and began to unpack some of the contents.

"Hmm, it's a shame you didn't have one of these guys free earlier today, that mask I gave T.J is probably going to give him nightmares." Jane stopped suddenly as a thought occurred to her and she gave Maura a suspicious glare. "Or are you purposely trying to one up me and get a head start on favourite Aunt status?"

Maura looked a little guilty as she avoided answering Jane's question. "I just want T.J to feel welcomed and happy coming here, not to mention having your mother feel comfortable bringing him here. This is her home too." Maura finished.

Jane's expression had moved easily to adoring as she heard Maura's defensive reasoning. Maura was likely to be the only woman Jane could never be jealous of when it came to sharing her family.

"Does Casey want a family?" Maura asked, finally managing to pry T.J from the slightly stunned Jane.

"What?!" Jane asked, surprised at where this line of questioning was going.

"Do you know if Casey wants a child? Or perhaps multiple children? Maura asked simply.

"Wha...Do I ? No...I don't know, gee I didn't think to ask between the not speaking to me for several months and the leaving again to go to war." Jane said sarcastically.

"Well, a recent survey by the associated press, found that 8 in 10 men do wish to become fathers, so it is very possible that he will. How do you feel about that?" Maura asked frankly.

Jane was slack jawed, at the question and at the first response she had felt, which had been a resounding negative. She just couldn't see herself having Casey's babies. The truth was, she couldn't see herself being pregnant, sitting home waiting for her husband to drop in from wherever he might be, saving traumatized soldiers.

Why did things have to change at all, she had meant what she had said to Maura, was what they had now so bad? Jane could easily imagine herself doing this for the foreseeable future. More than that, she could easily see herself sharing the responsibility of children with her best friend. Maybe Maura having a Rizzoli baby would be the perfect solution, they could have a baby together, that wouldn't be as weird as it seemed. When Lydia had left a brand new T.J on Maura's doorstep, that is exactly what Jane had considered them doing and if neither Lydia or Tommy had worked out their crap, they may be doing just that, right now. Tonight may have been just a normal night in with her unusual little family.

Jane watched Maura kneel on the carpeted floor and place T.J down on his front, the baby boy lifting his head up and craning his neck with obvious effort to look up at Maura who was calling his name like a song, and grinning endlessly at him, a grin that brought a sparkle to her already shining, hazel eyes. Maura selected a wooden stick toy with small bells on it and shook it lightly in front of her. T.J grinned and poked out his tongue as he tried to wriggle toward the noise, inadvertently blowing tiny bubbles as he gurgled.

Jane's big ole heart filled up and over as she watched the cool, clinical medical examiner giddy and full of wonder at the prospect of entertaining the youngest Rizzoli with her carefully chosen toy collection. Jane could get used to this, and she was reminded of how hopeless she was when it came to Maura. Hopeless _for_ her. She felt too much and she didn't care.

Jane had taken every touch, every look and every word that Maura had ever said into her heart and found quickly that her feelings for Dr Isles had earned her a one way ticket way beyond professional station, not stopping at friendship hill and reaching the end of the line at besotted-ville.

As for Maura's feelings? How would Jane know? She knew Maura loved her, knew that Maura was very sexually liberated and knew when she was being flirted with. Yet Maura was her own special case, when it came to interpersonal relationships and social interaction, Maura's genius suddenly ran out. Did she even know she was flirting? Did she realise that their relationship regularly went beyond the usual boundaries of friendship? If so, why would she not have mentioned this in her casually blunt way?

But Jane had come up with a million different reasons why she and Maura would never happen. In every other aspect of life and in particularly in her work, Jane was impatient, instinctive, spontaneous and a risk taker. Yet somehow in her love life she had become, stuck, immobile...a procrastinator. Each time she had considered making a move with Maura something had gotten in the way. Like Hoyt, Ian and even Dr Byron and now the ultimate in subterfuge, Casey.

It wasn't that Jane didn't have feelings for Casey, she did, she had all of them. He was the guy she had dreamed about as a young women, the one who didn't know she was alive. When Jane met him again, with his accent and his uniform and his obvious interest in her she had been flattered. It had even seemed to fit in with her lifestyle well, that he would be away for weeks, maybe months at a time. She could have a relationship with him and she wouldn't have to change her whole life.

It had hurt when he had seemed to reject her again, the pain of rejection perhaps making her feel more for him than she really did. The knock back from Casey mixing with her general feeling of being a lovesick fool over Maura and resulting in a giant pity party, complete with parade and grand marque. The sick thing being that her sorry state actually succeeded in getting her a great deal of attention from Maura, which while she couldn't not want it, only made her feel how pathetic she was amplified.

An hour later Jane was taking T.J on a stroll of Maura's house, stopping at each piece of art work or sculpture and giving her own critical review. Maura was pretending not to approve despite both women knowing that she was highly amused, which only spurred Jane on to more scathing criticism.

"And this picture looks a lot like the last thing you spat up, except it cost the same as your future college education." Jane teased.

The doorbell sounded. Pizza. Jane rushed to the door with T.J still on her hip. Only realising when she had flung it open that her wallet was going to be difficult to navigate with a hand full of baby. Jane nodded at the vaguely familiar face of the delivery guy, who looked slightly too old and well kept to be delivering pizza for a living.

"Oh, hey Maur, could you just give me a hand?" Jane called, as she repositioned T.J onto the opposite hip so Maura could access the pocket with the wallet.

"Wow, hey little guy." Said the young man at the door. "I didn't know you two had a kid? Congratulations! He is such a cutie!"

Jane was concentrating on standing still as Maura rummaged inside her trouser pocket for the wallet and almost missed the comment.

"What? Thanks, oh he is not ours...I mean..." Jane began.

As Maura triumphantly held the wallet aloft, Tommy and then Lydia appeared over the Pizza guys shoulder.

"Hey T.J, Mommy and Daddy are home!" He called, shooting Lydia a goofy smile.

"Oh!." Pizza dude nodded with a hint of disappointment, accepting the cash from a friendly smiling Maura and handing her the Pizza box. "Still, it looks good on you, you two should definitely think about it." He added as he turned to leave.

Jane stared after him for a moment as everyone else bustled past her and into the house, Lydia having taken T.J from Jane without the slightest protest. Jane slowly let the door fall to a close and turned to the room.

"Pizza!" Tommy said excitedly.

"No way!" Jane called. "Get your own!" Jane paced over to the counter where Maura had placed the pizza box as she went in search of a plate for herself. Jane refusing to eat from one.

"Come on Jane, I am starved!" Tommy pleaded.

Jane noticed Lydia looking hopefully a the box too.

"There isn't enough for everyone." Jane reasoned, placing herself between Tommy and the box now. "Why don't you take Lydia to that little Pizza place you like huh?"

A light shone on Tommy's face and then flickered out a moment later as his hands went automatically to his empty pockets. Jane reached for her wallet, where Maura had left it on the counter top and silently took out some notes that she stuffed into her brothers hand.

"Go!" She said. "T.J can stay here tonight, Maura has everything he needs." Jane insisted.

Tommy looked to Lydia who grinned her consent and the couple hurried out, calling their thank you's as they went.

Jane sighed contentedly. Now she could enjoy the rest of her evening, with Pizza, Maura and her favourite nephew. What could be better?

_**A/N- Reviews are always welcomed, thank u xx**_


	5. A form of self defence

_A/N- I was working on another chapter for before this with Frankie finding Jane falling apart after seeing M in jail, however I didn't have time to finish it and now I am leaving for a weeks holiday in the sun so. I may insert it at a later date. Thanks x_

A form of self defence.

Maura had sent Dr Popov home before he could so much as sink his first Vodka and was pleased that she didn't have to re-organize the place and that everything was almost as she had left it. Maura was able to get back to work almost as if nothing had happened.

Jane had spent most of the day hovering around the morgue, flitting in and out with questions for Maura on old cases or asking for a second opinion on notes for an upcoming trial. Generally finding excuses to be around Maura, trying to reassure herself that Maura was back and more importantly that she was okay. Maura had noticed her Detective shaped shadow but didn't bring attention to the fact.

Jane had finally brought down some lunch and Maura took a break from her meticulous note making to join Jane in her office.

"Did you ever consider the possibility that I may have done it?" Maura asked curiously.

"Not for a second." Jane said without hesitation, taking a huge bite of her sub.

"As I explained, anyone is capable of murder Jane. And as someone who is so well acquainted with the most effective ways to end human life, it is entirely possible that I could have done it." Maura argued reasonably.

"No." Jane said simply. "I don't care about the research or the science, I know you Maura Isles and I know you couldn't do something like that."

"Thank you Jane, for having faith in me." Maura said quietly.

Jane shrugged. "I am just glad I didn't have to join you in prison, make you my bitch." She said, fluttering her lashes playfully.

Maura hid her smile behind a look of surprise "Why would I have been your bitch? I have contacts at the joint, I am Paddy Doyle's daughter."

"It's _in _the joint Maura and you would be my bitch." Jane insisted.

They ate in companionable silence for another few moments before Jane began to snicker, almost choking on the last bite of her sub and quickly swilling down a soda to prevent a full on coughing fit.

Maura rolled her eyes at Jane's regularly lacking table manners, then looked questioningly as Jane continued to laugh to herself.

"Its ridiculous really, I mean as if you could seriously cause the kind of injuries this guy had been subject to, no matter how many self defence classes you took. The trick of breaking a board with your elbow? Please, that is more of a confidence booster than anything else." Jane dismissed.

Maura frowned as she carefully placed down the fork she had been using for the salad Jane had brought her for lunch.

"You don't think I am capable of defending myself?" Maura asked narrowing her eyes. "You think I need Paddy Doyle or a big bad detective to take care of me?"

"Maura, come on, you have never been in a real fight, people who want to hurt you don't tend to stand still waiting for you to get into the correct position to thrust your elbow perfectly at them." Jane explained.

"I could take you." Maura said seriously.

Jane almost spat her whole soda over the M.E. "Really?"

Maura nodded, getting up from her seat and straightening out her skirt before putting up both her hands and signaling for Jane to come at her.

Jane remained seated. "Maura, this is stupid. I am sure you can look after yourself, okay?"

Maura began to move around a little on her feet, like a boxer weaving around a ring. "Come on Jane, I'll show you. Get up."

Jane shook her head. "No way."

"Your scared I might actually be able to take you down?" Maura teased, always knowing the best route to a reaction from Jane.

Jane's face took on a new dangerous edge and she stood slowly, cutting an intimidating figure as she towered above Maura, her feet set apart, her shoulders squared. Maura smiled at the ease with which she had gotten Jane to play along.

"Come at me." Maura ordered, standing with one foot in front of the rest of her body, which was turned to the side.

Jane rolled her eyes but stretched out her fingers and considered which angle to tackle Maura from. Jane stood casually and shook her head as if she was going to sit down again before suddenly tensing and lunging at Maura with both arms out, attempting to restrain her in an embrace where she would be incapable of fighting back.

Unfortunately for Jane, Maura had anticipated this move and had turned her body in such a way that as Jane came at her with some speed, Maura used Jane's own strength and momentum to push her off her feet and dump her flat on her back on to Maura's couch, with Maura following through a little too much and landing spread out on top of Jane. It was self defence 101 and Maura grinned triumphantly as Jane looked back at her, shocked and breathless.

"Hmmmm." Maura made a happy noise, almost like a purr. "Looks like I have the upper hand, Detective." Maura pointed out as she settled comfortably on top of Jane. "I could get you to agree to anything from here, or admit anything." Maura said wickedly.

Jane looked scared and trapped. It completely slipped her mind as she felt Maura sitting astride her hips, that she was the larger of the two and could easily wriggle out from under the smaller woman. "Like what?" She dared.

"Did you miss me?" Maura started.

Jane nodded silently, licking her own lips as her eyes lingered on Maura's.

Following every crisis, every near death experience, When Doyle first showed up, Hoyt, Dominic, Dennis Rockmond. After each one Jane had vowed she would just tell Maura how she felt, show her. Life was too short, right? But it never seemed the right time and waiting for the perfect time always turned into the next drama. Maybe this was really it, her chance, their chance.

Jane's expression became tender. "I couldn't face the thought of you being in there, alone, scared, thinking that you had done that. I would have done anything to get you out, Maura, you have to know that. I wouldn't have stopped."

Maura was surprised by the sudden serious nature of the exchange and a lump formed in her throat. "Anything?"

Jane shifted her weight slightly on the sofa, so she could take out a hand and place her palm against Maura's cheek, her thumb tracing the weak spot of Maura's temple. "Anything."

A beat. A look. Do it now.

"I could have put a file in a cake for you." Jane joked her way back to safer ground.

Maura recognised the shift immediately. It was familiar. They were stood shoulder to shoulder at the precipice of their relationship and Jane always pulled them back.

"Jane!" Maura said delighted. "You mean you would have baked for me!?"

Jane narrowed one eye. "Ha ha, Dr Isles, they issue you with that sense of humor while you were inside?"

The sound of a throat being cleared at the doorway attracted both women's attention.

"Wow, I guess you girls really missed each other." Frost said as he nodded to the slightly compromising position Jane and Maura currently occupied on the couch.

Maura grinned at Frost as Jane scrambled around, pushing Maura off her lap and getting up from the couch.

"What have we got?" She shot at her partner, all business again.

Frost and Maura shared a knowing look.

xxxxx


	6. A blind love

_A/N- Picking up the moment that 405 ends... _

The blind love.

Maura chuckled at Jane. It felt strange but delightful that no matter what kind of day she had endured, no matter the horror, she could always come back to this, she could always find some peace and some light with Jane. The importance of that made her feel suddenly somber and she stopped laughing abruptly.

"There is still something bothering you?" Jane guessed, noticing the change in Maura.

Maura let her eyes drift closed in acknowledgment. "I still do not believe that Hope did this for the right reasons. It feels as if she did it because I asked."

"Sounds like a pretty good reason." Jane admitted simply, folding her arms flat on the table and leaning toward Maura a little as she gave her friend her full attention.

"But she should have done this for them, for Lieutenant Cavanaugh and his family, for all the victims that Paddy left in his wake. Because it was the right thing. It is self serving of her to do this in an attempt to appease me." Maura shook her head hopelessly.

"Hey." Jane said gently. "You don't have to like every decision she makes for the two of you to have a relationship. You're family, you just have to deal with disappointment. Believe me." Jane smiled wryly.

Maura gave a small smile at this. "What would I do without you Jane? I feel like I have had so much going on lately, I don't know how I would have got through any of it without your support."

Jane shrugged. "That's what best friends are for right?"

"Yes, best friends..." Maura sighed wistfully as she pushed her own food around on her plate. Now was not the time to approach that particular landmine, she had definitely reached her drama quota for today.

"Anyway, I think you would have coped just fine Maur. What you did in that bathroom... Was amazing, truly. I mean I appreciate that you are seriously book smart, but that today... was... genius...It was _people_ smart, intuitive. I was really proud of you." Jane managed the last sentence through the lump in her throat, making her voice even huskier than usual.

Maura just stared at the woman across from her, a flush across her cheeks. Jane grinned happily and went back to her food.

"I just don't understand how someone as bright as Hope could be so blind ? I realise that I have made some disastrous decisions concerning men but I would never knowingly be complicit in anything so...wrong!" Maura exclaimed.

"Don't they say Love is blind?" Jane said with an uncertain frown. Maura considered this.

"One translation of a piece by Plato, quotes "The lover is blinded about the beloved and prefers his own interest to truth and right."" Maura began. "However it was Shakespeare's use of the phrase in several of his plays, _Two gentlemen of Verona, Henry V _and _The merchant of Venice, _that cemented the popularity of the proverb." Maura paused briefly, fork hovering over her plate. "Modern day research supports the view that the blindness of love is not just a figurative matter. A study in 2004 by University College London found that feelings of love suppressed the activity of the areas of the brain that control critical thought."

Jane waited patiently throughout Maura's reasoning. "You see...so maybe you should ease up on her a little?"

"I thought you didn't like her?" Maura accused defensively.

"I don't like seeing you hurting Maur and you wanted to see her when you were upset about Paddy, so you must feel something for her...It's understandable." Jane added gently.

Maura frowned at herself quietly, her eyes cast downward once again.

"Unless it's that you are still mad about...other things..." Jane tried vaguely.

Maura's eyes darted to Jane. "Like what?"

Jane shrugged. "I don't know...the fact that when she first found out who you were, she rejected you? Maybe?"

Maura shrank a little as she realised the truth in this. It was unsettling to have someone know her so well.

"You should just tell her how that made you feel, yell at her, get it out, you'll feel better and I don't think that it would make her leave again...if that...if you're worried about that?" Jane said, tilting her head sympathetically.

Maura sighed heavily with some acceptance of Jane's words and also considering all the other bottling up of feelings she was doing at the moment.

"Another drink?" Jane asked, trying to lift the tension.

Maura nodded her agreement but placed a hand over Jane's as she made a move to get up from the table. "Can we stay at your place tonight?" Maura said quickly.

Jane's brow creased lightly. "Sure. You're not worried about Paddy's men or anything? He still wouldn't allow anyone to hurt you, I'm sure of it." Jane assured her.

"It's not that, I just need to get out of my place for a while, so much has been going on there, Hope being there, Cavanaugh..." Maura explained.

"Okay, as long as you don't complain about the mess. One for the road then." Jane agreed, squeezing Maura's hand across the table.

As Jane looked up she noticed Frost had just walked in and approached their table tentatively.

"I am not...interrupting anything, am I?" He asked haltingly.

Jane frowned sharply at him. "Don't be stupid, you picked just the right time, I'm buying."

Frost smiled at his partner as she passed him on her way to the bar. He slipped into her seat at the table for two and looked questioningly at Maura.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Thank you." Maura said. "I'm fine. Jane's taking care of me."

Frost nodded repeatedly and cast a glance at the tall brunette detective who looked to be giving one of the new bar tenders a hard time.

"Did you two talk?" Frost plunged in, no time to be too delicate.

"We talk all the time." Maura replied, not being deliberately evasive, just in her habit of being overly literal.

"I mean, did you talk about, what we talked about? You know...the two of you?" Frost clarified.

Maura looked to Jane and kept her eyes on her friends back as she spoke. "No, not yet...it hasn't really been the right time, I'm not sure Jane is ready for that and selfish as it is, I need her right now." Maura admitted.

Frost twisted his mouth and narrowed his eyes as he listened to what sounded like another excuse. He had witnessed the state that Maura had been in lately and he knew better than even Jane that it wasn't all about her family. When Casey had dropped back into town, Frost hadn't known what was going on but he had called Maura on it and had not been prepared for the sudden confession she had made to him.

"There is never going to be a right time, you know that right?"

He didn't wait for a reply, but got up from his seat as Jane returned with some bottled beer and handed him one.

"I gotta go speak to someone." He waved a hand and nodded at a face he recognized across the bar.

Jane followed his eyes and shrugged. "Okay. I'll catch you later then?"

Frost nodded and put a hand to Jane's shoulder before he left, sending a pointed glance Maura's way.

Frost had considered the possibility that his partner and Dr Isles were more than platonic way back when he first knew the pair and he had for a while suspected that Jane may be the one more interested in the Doctor than was perhaps considered friendly. However he had come to the conclusion that if they had something going on he would know about it by now, he would have seen it. Turns out that Maura is the one who has fallen for her best friend and hasn't got the balls to make a move...literally.

Initially Frost felt a little awkward that Maura had let this slip to him of all people, but he supposed that he was a natural choice. Maura would normally confide in Jane or Angela and she didn't have that option in this case. He was happy to listen to Maura, after all, she was a part of their little BPD family, except now he felt like he had been invited to someones surprise party and he had to constantly watch what he was saying so as not to give anything away. The sooner Maura spoke to Jane the better, he didn't want to be forced to knock their heads together. And he certainly didn't want to try broaching the subject with Jane and run the risk of her closing up completely.

He watched from his safe corner as the two women in question left the bar, arm in arm, 30 minutes later and only then did he relax fully.

_A/N- I am trying to move this forward a little but it is quite difficult as I would like to keep it running alongside the show and I don't know where the show is going. It is quite therapeutic though. Reviews are greatly appreciated._


	7. There is such a thing as too relaxed

There is such a thing as too relaxed.

_**A/N-Scene set during 406 when Jane stays at Maura's after she finds out she is being sued. I am still recovering from the hilarity of Maura rapping! Love it. **_

Jane bid a goodnight to her mother with a kiss to the cheek, not even a little ashamed of the fact that on day's like today, she could still feel like a little girl who is experiencing the harsh realities of life for the first time and that, like then, she really needed the comfort of a mothers arms.

"Goodnight Baby." Angela said, hating to see Jane so down but also enjoying the opportunity to be close to her strong willed, independent girl. Angela held onto Jane just a little bit longer before returning to the guesthouse.

Maura smiled at the pair as she joined Jane on the couch, handing her a cup of chamomile tea. The very fact that Jane had accepted the offer of tea demonstrated how badly she was feeling, despite putting a brave face on it, but Maura didn't feel it necessary to point that out.

Jane tucked her head underneath Maura's arm,so she was basically lying in the Doctors lap, nestled close and looked up at her with such a sad smile that Maura's heart ached to be more comfort to her. To be the cause of happiness, to be able to say, it didn't matter how shitty things got, that they would always have each other and that was all they needed. Maura wanted to show Jane this in a hundred different ways.

Maura ran the back of her fingers gently over Jane's cheek, stirring the beginnings of a more genuine smile there. Jane sighed more happily and some of the worry left her body all at reached up to Maura's hand and tangled her fingers in hers. Playing idly with Maura's rings and pressing her thumb against her palm, tracing the lines that creased her palm slowly and thoughtfully.

Maura felt Jane's touch as one would feel a pleasant pain, like a craving that being met only served to make the need stronger. They had been silent for as long as should have been comfortable between even close friends, yet continued to bathe in one another's gaze and presence.

"You know Maur.." Jane said finally. "It's not even that big a deal right? I mean, things have been worse. A condo is just a condo. I mean...I'm not being stalked by my own personal serial killer, or being held captive by my crazy pretend husband. I got a lot to be thankful for. You are here. After everything we have been through together, Hoyt, Rockmond and when I shot Doyle. We are still here, we are together."

Maura's heartbeat had picked up and was now the rhythm of a runaway train as Jane looked at her earnestly.

"If I lose the condo, If I lose all my money, I still have you right?" Jane checked.

Maura could only nod, dumbly.

"And Ma, Frankie...my family. Frost and Korsak...none of that is going to change. The world keeps turning." Jane shrugged philosophically.

Maura couldn't help but notice that Jane hadn't mentioned Casey. The Doctor didn't think she could stay in this position any longer, looking down into Jane's face, she wanted to touch her again so much, wanted to run a finger across her bottom lip.

Maura pushed at Jane's back lightly with her thigh. "Is your back still sore? Massage would stimulate the blood flow to contracted and tight muscles and ease some of the tension. I could rub it for you.?" She offered helpfully.

Jane grinned openly now. "Hey, this being miserable thing doesn't come without it's perks. Free back rubs is definitely one of them."

Jane sat up and let Maura escape from the couch as Jane turned onto her front and stretched out along the length of it.

"I'll get some oil." Maura said. "I have an organic aromatherapy blend for promoting calm and tranquility." Maura told Jane as her voice drifted out of the room and then quickly returned. "It contains Lavender, Sandalwood and Frankincense in sweet almond and jojoba. Inhale the aroma to allow your mind and body to escape the humdrum of life." Maura said serenely.

Jane almost snickered, Maura sounded like an infomercial. But she decided she was too tired to make jokes. Jane pulled her top up over her head without sitting up properly on the couch, meaning Maura didn't see Jane in only her bra, but the knowledge that the detective was in a state of undress alone was enough to make Maura's face flush with heat and colour. Having seen Jane in various states of undress in the past did nothing now to reduce her agitation, not since she had started to think of Jane in a very different way.

Maura considered exactly where she should position herself and decided that the only way she could do this comfortably, for them both, was to sit astride Jane, perched over her bottom, a knee either side, so that she could easily reach all of the taller womans back. As she got tentatively into place she noticed just how thin the fabric of her pajama's were when pressed against the heat of another body.

Jane didn't flinch as she felt Maura's weight settle over her, but she did have to push away an image of how Maura would look if Jane were to turn onto her back now and have Maura sitting above her like this. Jane felt a familiar ache and remembered to breath and to think of something to cool her off... Korsak's foot fungus, _Urhg!_ Cavanaugh and her Ma playing hide the cannoli. _Too much. _The last time she had seen Tommy change T.J's diaper and how he had walked around the apartment for almost an hour before Jane's uncontrollable giggles had alerted him to the fact that he had smeared poop, like war paint across one cheek. _Good. Funny and gross._

Jane's eyes closed and her breathing slowed and deepened as she completely relaxed beneath Maura. Maura was quiet as she focused on the feel of Jane's skin beneath her fingers, her palms. The oil sinking into her pours and making the skin slick enough for Maura to easily run her her hands over Jane's back, making sweeping motions and then using a more firm kneading motion.

"Ahhh, Maura that feels good." Jane assured, her head resting in the cradle of her own folded arms. "Real good."

Jane closed her eyes and was quiet and unusually pliable, giving herself up to Maura's touch without the least resistance. Another sign of just how helpless she was feeling right now.

Jane was so lucky to have had Maura by her side today and she wanted to let her know that but couldn't engage her brain into more than a directionless ramble.

"Even on my worst day ever, I have the best friend in the world. That's why our friendship is so much more important to me than any guy could ever be. Guy's come into your life, screw with your feelings and then leave. It's not just the sex that ruins everything, you get in a relationship and it changes everything, you want something from them, they want something from you." Jane sighed, she wasn't sure where she was going or even if Maura was listening.

"Most relationships do require some form of compromise." Maura agreed noncommittally.

"Yeah right." Jane agreed and then seemed to continue her musings. "I mean, it's a shame you can't just date your best friend, but can you imagine if you and I had ever gotten romantically involved?" Jane said, more to herself than to Maura and seemingly oblivious to the fact that Maura's hands suddenly froze in place.

"You would run out of patience for all the mess I make around your house and the fact that I dress like I fell into the wardrobe of someone fashionably challenged." Jane chuckled as Maura began to protest.

"Those things are not really..."

"And I would get tired of pretending to enjoy myself at charity Gala's while you rub shoulders with guys who have more money than I have red sox ticket stubs." Jane went on.

This was a line of reasoning Jane had used a million times to convince herself that she and Maura were just too different to make a relationship work. Jane voiced it now without even thinking about it, her eyes closed heavily against the troubles of the day and reveling in the closeness of Maura and the safety of their friendship.

Maura swallowed down her protests and continued Jane's massage in silence. Was this what Jane really thought. Had she picked up on Maura's feelings lately, on her intentions to raise this subject with her? Was she trying to let Maura down gently? Maura wished again that she was more skilled at reading people. It was true that Jane was the person she understood best and yet she still occasionally missed even the simplest of her meanings. Was she missing something now? She had to be sure.

"Jane, we get on very well despite all of our differences and for a long time now I've been thinking that perhaps ... our relationship could expand to include a more physical element. I know that we have joked about it and that people have speculated ...but haven't you ever seriously considered..."

Maura hesitated, she was surprised that there had been completely no physical reaction to her words from Jane, She lay as relaxed as Maura had ever known her, beneath Maura, the pattern of her breathing deep and steady. Maura bent to look at the peaceful face of the Detective. Jane was asleep.

Maura sighed and would have laughed if she wasn't so exasperated. Maura didn't believe in fate but perhaps she really had missed her chance to tell Jane how she felt. Maura was sure it shouldn't be so difficult, she had never struggled to tell the men in her life exactly how she felt. Perhaps they had just been friends too long to ever be more.

Maura was reluctant to remove herself and thought that she could easily pretend that she hadn't realised Jane was asleep and continue to enjoy the feel of her, let her hands continue to stroke the supple tanned skin, exploring Jane completely unguarded. But somehow this all felt too intimate and Maura felt a tear fall from her own cheek and land on her splayed hand. Maura got up slowly so as not to disturb Jane and quietly went to fetch a blanket.

"Love you Maur..." Jane mumbled as she felt the blanket rest around her shoulders and she curled up on her side, still in her sleep.

Maura didn't think Jane could have said anything that would have made her heart heavier. Jane didn't mean the words in the way Maura would like and probably never would and it was time for the Doctor to accept this before it destroyed what they did have.

"Goodnight Jane." She whispered. "Tomorrow will be a better day."


	8. Speaking with the dead

Speaking to the dead.

_**A/N: So the last episode was kind of tough with all the waving around of the magic man wands. I of course try to find the Rizzles in everything but I had to really reach here. Lets hope for less testosterone and more eye sex in the next ep, something I can really work with.**_

xxxxxxx

"What was that?" Maura bent closer to the corpse, her eyes fleeting to his eyes as if expecting to see him looking back at her. "Really? You thought we were a couple too? A common mistake. We are just friends...best friends."

Maura smiled and went back to her task, she was just finishing up the autopsy on the science teacher killed in a hit and run. The results were due in on his bloods and tox screens and she was ready to close him up. She had found all she could here. Maura dipped her head again as if listening, continuing the game from earlier.

"You got the impression that Jane is feeling conflicted about her relationship with Casey? You don't think that they sound compatible? Really? That is interesting. She does seem to be more comfortable conducting a relationship with him over email rather than face to face." Maura shrugged a shoulder.

Why she had challenged Jane about Casey this morning, she didn't know, it was like peeling away the protective crust formed by the coagulation of blood, pus, serum or a combination of these, on the surface of a wound. Or as it is generally known, picking at a scab, which she would never actually do. And yet Jane had not said that everything was great and she couldn't wait for Casey to return, she hadn't talked about how much she loved him, she hadn't even been willing to call him her boyfriend. Small comfort to Maura.

Why Maura had mentioned Raphael Martinez was another mystery. Possibly another challenge to Jane. Maura felt sure that the Lieutenant had some residual feelings for her friend, how deep they went she couldn't know. But despite herself she did feel that Martinez was a better match for Jane than Casey. Or perhaps just less of a threat to Maura. She didn't dwell on that thought.

Indicating that she might be interested in Raphael herself, could have been a subconscious attempt to make Jane jealous. Jane had been jealous in the past when Maura had been with men, or at least protective. Maura did think that Raphael was attractive but she hadn''t seriously considered sleeping with him. Even though it had been a while since she had participated in any kind of intercourse. Perhaps that was a problem, and some fun casual sex would serve to distract her from the feelings she was trying to get over?

"Hmmm, you think I should just show her how I feel? It's not like she can run away at the moment." Maura smiled proudly at her own joke, she was sure that had this man been alive, he would have laughed along.

"You are very easy to talk to and you speak a lot more sense now than I suspect you did when you were alive." Maura admitted.

As a scientist and a doctor she was always careful to remain objective but as a woman who was discovering more and more uncomfortable truths about this man she had personally lost a great deal of respect for him.

"Maybe I should just say "Jane, I want you to come home with me tonight and keep your foot elevated, preferably on the end of my bed where you would be lying naked and I would be helpfully feeding you various delectable items." Maura was not looking into the mans face now, but continuing her work, her eyes focused on the small movements she made as she neatly stitched up the lines of the Y incision.

"You would approve of that? maybe I am the one who needs the ice pack applied to my..."

A throat clearing behind her caused her to spin around in panic, her face instantly burning hot.

"Jane!?"

"Maur? You still chatting with the dead guy? Did he tell you who killed him yet?" Jane said as she hobbled into the room wincing sharply with every step.

"You startled me." Maura explained away her blush.

"So I see, You telling this guy your secrets Maur?" Jane teased, nodding at the lifeless body that filled the table.

"I...No...I was just finishing up with him actually." Maura evaded expertly. "Jane, you look like you are in agony, I cannot stress the importance of keeping your weight off that ankle. Please come and lie down in my office."

Jane waved her off. "It's okay, stop fussing."

"Jane, Susie will be by with results anytime now and you will be perfectly placed to receive them first. Otherwise you could be prolonging your recovery time to several more weeks and I cannot bear to have you sulking for that long." Maura persisted.

Jane scowled but sighed in defeat. "Okay, I will come and lie down in your office, but only so you have someone with a pulse to talk to for a little while. I worry about your sanity down here y'know."

"Well, Thank you, you are a true friend." Maura said dryly as she came to Jane's side and wrapped an arm around her back as she shouldered some of her weight.

"Yeah, plus it wouldn't hurt to keep out of the way of Martinez, he is weirding me out a little." Jane mentioned.

Maura smirked a little. "Because of your attraction to him?"

"No." Jane protested sharply. "Anyway, as my best friend aren't you supposed be warning me off Martinez? Telling me not to screw up things with Casey?"

"Am I?" Maura asked genuinely. "Is that what you want me to do Jane?"

"I don't know, maybe." Jane mumbled.

They finally entered Maura's office and Maura helped Jane onto the couch.

Jane sighed, feeling tired after even the small walk here and flopped back into the seating. Dragging her hand through her curls, she watched Maura, who seemed unusually quiet.

Jane wondered what she was talking to a corpse about that she couldn't trust Jane with, but dismissed the thought as quickly as it formed. Maura was not the type to have secrets, at least not for long and not from Jane.

"You okay?" Jane asked anyway.

Maura straightened. "Of course, just shocked that I actually got you to come in here and rest. You have a reputation for being a stubborn..." Maura struggled for words.

"Pain in the ass?" Jane shot quickly. "You forgot whiny." She added, turning her own complaint about Maura a few weeks ago back onto herself.

Maura smiled as she brought an extra throw pillow over to Jane, who held out a hand to accept it.

"Lucky for me, you love me anyway, right?" Jane joked, her hand clasping the pillow.

Maura held onto the soft fabric in her own hand just a little too long and for a moment each woman was connected to the other through the holding on of this object . Jane's playful glance turning into something curious and bold as she met Maura's searching look.

A gentle knock on the office door announced Susie with the results that Maura had been waiting for and the M.E dropped the cushion into Jane's lap as they both let go at once.

"Thank you Susie." Maura muttered as she examined for herself the results that Susie had just outlined for her. "I should go and give these to Frost and Korsak." Maura said, backing quickly out of the room. "You, stay." She ordered firmly.

Not even the slightest protest from Jane, that should have been enough to tell Maura that Jane had noticed the strangeness in her manner just now. However Maura decided that to distract herself from Jane she would think of nothing but this case and try and get herself as involved as possible.

Jane frowned as Maura disappeared from view. What the hell did Jane want? She pushed the obvious yet impossible answer out of her mind and tried to focus on what was really happening. She was embarking upon a largely long distance relationship with Casey that had been full of complications before it had even started, how could she know how it would be or how she would feel if they ever got the chance to just have a real relationship?

And was the temptation of Martinez really just a simple way to sabotage whatever it was she had going on with Casey?

Jane didn't want to even factor her feelings for Maura into the equation, though she knew they played a inescapable part of her inability to have any kind of real love life at the moment. Jane let her eyes drift shut as she searched for some kind of clarity from within.

She wished briefly that she could just hide away in Maura's office forever, no Casey, no Martinez, no one else. Jane could rest and Maura could...be Maura. Jane relaxed and told herself that she wasn't waiting around for Maura to return. That her whole life wasn't a matter of waiting for Maura.

_**A/N : Thanks for reading folks x**_


	9. Maura's closet

_**Maura's closet.**_

_**A/N- Short update as I am working on a few other things, but I have to say I love the sister dynamic in the show. Loved the episode and hope we see lots more of Maura and Cailan. **_

"I hope it doesn't take me as long to house train Cailan as it did with you." Maura said absently.

"What? I'm still messy." Jane said indignantly.

"Not at my house, not like you were." Maura stated honestly.

Jane frowned over her beer bottle as they sat in the new style Dirty Robber.

"And I sort of like having a little of your mess around, your mess has been invited at least, it feels homely." Maura admitted.

"Oh so this is personal? You don't like Cailan's mess?" Jane accused.

"Maybe, a little." Maura winced at the implication, that she was a bad person, a bad big sister.

"Well, it was kinda sprung on you." Jane defended her friend.

"I think that part of the reason I got so mad at Cailan, was that I'm jealous. Hope is annoying the hell out of me with all the phonecalls but...you know, I've always envied that kind of mother-daughter relationship. Like the one you have with Angela." Maura looked into her wine glass thoughtfully.

Jane nodded quietly. "I know."

"The other morning when I came downstairs to find she had a house full of friends and they were all telling me what a genius she was. I was jealous then too." Maura went on.

"Why? You're an official genius." Jane reminded.

"Yes, but I didn't have friends like that at her age, I didn't connect with people, In some ways I still don't. I never had a best friend until you. No slumber parties, staying up all night talking about cute boys. I thought that maybe it was a trade off. I couldn't have all of that but I had my intellect." Maura shrugged.

"And Cailan seems to have it all and maybe takes it for granted?" Jane summed up.

Maura nodded shamefaced. "I know that sounds petty."

"No Maura, it sounds normal. It's natural to have sibling rivalry and your circumstances are complicated by the fact that you didn't grow up together. You can work it out." Jane assured.

"I hope so." Maura sighed, flicking her hair behind her ear and inadvertently drawing Jane's attention to her neck.

Jane flushed, she would have to make this her last beer. She had noticed lately that even a little beer in Maura's presence seemed to be causing her to forget about not giving the longing looks, about banishing any inappropriate imaginings. Jane needed to change the subject.

"Has this put you off having kids at all because if not you can meet a few of the hockey mom's that's sure to finish you off." She said lightly, taking a long drink of her beer.

"I don't think that will be necessary, the equestrian team mother's could get very involved in competitions also." Maura told Jane.

Jane chuckled at the image. Maura seemed to be weighing up wether or not she should say something.

"Jane. Do you you think of me like a sister?" She ventured as she placed her wine glass on the table and nervously fingered at the stem.

Jane was distracted by the sudden appearance of her hand reared, corn fed, had it's own condo, chicken and roasted butternut squash.

"God No!" She replied unthinking as she took up her fork and dived in.

Maura thanked the waitress for her own dish and considered Jane expectantly.

Jane paused with her first bite less than an inch from her mouth. "What?"

Maura shrugged. "It's just that Angela has said more than once that she thinks of me as a daughter."

"Hmmmm wishful thinking" Jane mumbled through a mouth full of food.

"And Frankie and Tommy have made me feel like family...I thought maybe..." Maura finally picked up her cutlery as she trailed off, not looking at Jane.

Jane swallowed. Had she hurt Maura's feelings? "I just think, most sisters probably wouldn't be as close as we are, you're my best friend...but you are more than that Maura...just...not sisters...I don't think of you in a sisterly way."Jane explained gently and as honestly as she could.

Maura's forehead rose and then creased, this far from cleared anything up.

Jane with fork fully loaded paused again. "Why? Do you think of me that way?" She asked suddenly.

Maura shook her head. "Definitely not."

Xxxx

Maura heard Cailan slam the front door shut as she entered the house. Maura was relieved to hear her return as she had agreed that tonight Cailan could keep in minimal contact, by text every couple of hours rather than every 30 minutes and it had been about that amount of time since she last had last heard from her. Actually it had been 116 minutes, but who was counting?

"Maura?! Jane?!" The teenager bellowed through the house.

Maura cringed. She would not respond to yelling by yelling back and so she waited for Cailan to come and find her.

"Maura?! Anyone home?" The girl called, from a slightly closer proximity.

Just as Maura got up off her knees to go and ask Cailan politely to shut the hell up, her half sister's face appeared around her closet door.

"Hey." She flashed a smile. "Your in the closet?"

Maura counted to five. "Good evening Cailan. I trust you have had a good one?"

Cailan nodded as another grinning head popped over her shoulder. The familiar face of a young woman Maura had noticed as one of Cailan's more intimate friends, in that she seemed to be in her company rather a lot and usually when it was just the two of them.

"So, what are you doing in the closet?" Cailan asked with an amused grin.

Maura noticed Cailan's friend barely containing a giggle and wondered if she had missed something.

"I was re-organizing, again, I had to put back some things I was going to throw out." Maura explained.

"Jane is not in the closet with you?"Cailan asked innocently and now her friend could not help the laughter that escaped her.

Maura frowned suspiciously. "Clearly not, unless she is hiding in a drawer." Maura said sarcastically. A trait she was perfecting more and more under the tutelage of the Detective.

Cailan giggled now too as she pushed her friend back out into the hall and made to follow her.

"Okay sis, if you need any help, it's okay to come out..." As Cailan paused her friend doubled over, a hand covering her mouth. "... And ask for it, we will be right out here."

Maura was about to ask Cailan what illegal substances she had consumed that evening when it suddenly hit her what Cailan was getting at.

Maura swung her closet door shut loudly and sat herself down in a haughty heap. How the hell could a self absorbed, inexperienced, silly, teenager see right through her and yet her best friend was oblivious.

Just then, Jane let herself in to Maura's house and caught sight of Maura's sister and her friend.

"Oh, hey girls. You seen Maura?" Jane said, heading straight for the kitchen and grabbing herself a beer.

"She's in her closet." Cailan informed Jane.

Jane had been about to go in search of the Doc but turned to limp back toward the girls. "On second thoughts." She mumbled.

"You not a fan of the closet Jane?" Cailan cocked her head to ask.

Jane snorted as she took a drink from her beer. "Have you seen the heels in there? I'm a Detective, I need sensible shoes." Jane said seriously.

Cailan dragged her friend, who was now giggling uncontrollably, in the direction of the guest room, just as Maura appeared having heard Jane's voice.

Jane looked in puzzlement after the young girls as they left the room and raised a brow to Maura.

"Kids!?" She said shaking her head.

xxxx


	10. Chapter 10

A good nights sleep.

_**A/N- busy week on the beach, meant I almost didn't get this done. x**_

"I wish you would have come to me. I was worried about you." Maura said quietly as she sat in the space beside Jane on the couch. They had gravitated towards each other at the end of the day, as they so often did. Each seeking comfort in the other, in their simple intimacy.

"I know. I couldn't come, not until it was over. I couldn't afford to fall apart." Jane admitted. "But knowing you'd be there if I did, meant everything to me...really." Jane assured with a lopsided smile.

Maura moved a little closer. It had taken everything she had, not to go to Jane when she could see her suffering. Maura had stood on the sidelines like a dutiful best friend, when every instinct she had, wanted to reach out and hold Jane too her. Jane was not the only protective one in their relationship and the reappearance of the Hoyt case had instantly brought out protective Maura, the problem being that it bordered on the possesive Maura. She had to remind herself repeatedly that Jane wasn't really her's.

"I wish I could just forget him and most of the time, I can. But then comes a case that has a similarity or someone asking questions and it all comes flooding back." Jane appeared relaxed as she slouched into the couch, if you overlooked the way the fingers of her left hand roughly massaged the scarred palm of her right, Maura did not.

"I know what you mean." Maura agreed, looking at her own hands briefly.

So much of Jane's self was wrapped up with Charles Hoyt, in her work, she was always defined by that case, she would never escape it. Even her relationship with Maura, they had moved closer together each time that the threat of Hoyt had surfaced. The first time Jane had stayed at Maura's house, the first time they had shared a bed, a time when Jane had trusted Maura unlike anyone else and had not been disappointed.

"You didn't seem to be afraid. Do you still think about it?" Jane had been wondering how Maura had seemed so unmoved by the first murder scene, set up to get their attention. Afterall, she had her own brush with Hoyts evil. The memory of that day lived on in the worst of Jane's nightmares, how could it be that Maura had so easily moved on.

"Of course I still think of it." Maura frowned sharply. It had been the most terrifying experience of her life. Not only had her own life been threatened but it was being used to destroy Jane.

"I suppose I was focused on you. Hoyt is your demon." Maura had to be honest and she knew it was more than that. "You saved me then and you have saved me each time I needed you, I don't doubt you would do it again." Maura explained confidently.

Jane recalled the depth of the anger that had surged like a supernatural strength inside her and been released upon Hoyt and his accomplice when they had threatened Maura's life. Jane would protect Maura at all costs, she had proved that to them both.

"You don't really think I am crazy do you?" Jane sighed shakily, her head hanging back against the top of the couch.

Maura frowned again. "Of course not." She assured, deciding to answer this as Jane's best friend not as a Doctor for once. "Anyone who was faced with the circumstances you have faced, both in the past and most recently would have some reactions. The nightmares had faded before all this and they will fade again."

"I guess." Jane agreed, reassured by Maura's confidence in her. Trying not to focus on what it meant that the nightmares had almost totally vanished when Jane slept with Maura.

"And if they don't or you still feel like you need some support, we can get you some. It's not crazy. It doesn't make you crazy...or weak." Maura said sternly.

Jane nodded. "I know that." She told herself as much as Maura. Jane lent her head on her rational friend's shoulder and gave a small sigh of relief. Maura had really been her rock through this latest escapade and Jane hadn't failed to notice each of the small reassuring smiles and offers of support.

Maura put an arm around Jane's waist and gave her a small squeeze, it was so good to have her back here, where Maura could be on hand. Maura knew that tonight they would sleep in her bed, side by side and that she could drift off listening to the sound of Jane's breathing, more importantly that she would be there if Jane was woken by another nightmare.

Jane yawned and snuggled closer into Maura. Jane took in the familiar scent of the doctors perfume, and felt the delicate softness of Maura giving way to let Jane in and curling around her instinctively. Jane watched the rise and fall of Maura's chest and time seemed endless.

Jane pulled her head away from Maura and sat up a little straighter, looking at her friend in a grateful way and just about to suggest they move upstairs. Maura however, feeling suddenly bereft of Jane as the weight of her pulled away, found her fingers reaching for the dark curls that framed Jane's face. Maura slowly brushed them back and tucked them behind an ear.

Jane suddenly saw something she didn't recognise in her friend's face and gazed at her questioningly, but with a tender, slightly concerned, smile.

In that moment Maura knew that she was going to kiss Jane, she knew it but was utterly powerless to stop it, like the slowed down moments just before an accident occurs. Maura pushed slightly forward and brushed Jane's lips with her own. The kiss was hardly even there and it was gone before Jane knew it, but before they could pull apart completley Jane had reacted and gone after Maura's retreating lips, pulling her back and making certain that she had not just imagined the taste of Maura's mouth.

Maura had been about to shrink away and offer an apology or pray that Jane hadn't noticed her move, when she was suddenly and unexpectedly pulled back in, folded into Jane's arms which had wound their way around her, one hand then reaching to cup Maura's face as the deep, ragged kiss ended.

Maura's eyes had closed as their lips had met and now as she opened them she felt the shock of reality. She had kissed Jane and had been kissed in return. Her heart drummed in her chest, her stomach was hit by a tsunami wave of nervous excitement and left with aftershocks of nausea.

"Jane...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." Maura flustered, looking away from Jane's unreadable expression.

Jane clamped a hand around Maura's lower arm as she felt Maura trying to break away. "No. It's alright. It was me...I..." Jane stalled. "It's been an emotional few days, for us both."

Maura instantly burned with guilt as she thought about what Jane was saying. She had taken advantage. She had thought about kissing Jane so many times, in so many ways and now when Jane was at her most vulnerable, in most need of her friend, Maura had given in to her own desires. The fact that Jane had responded was lost in Maura's guilt stricken panic.

"Still, I shouldn't. ..." Maura breathed shakily.

Jane had to take control. She knew that Maura struggled with the distinctions that others, including Jane, seemed to mutually agree to. Maura was so casual in her attitude to sex and had none of the hang ups of almost every other person Jane knew. Jane had once been shocked and then refreshed by Maura's attitude but had quickly come to find it confusing. This kiss was probably just a way for Maura to offer comfort to her friend and maybe she could even sense Jane's longing for it. But she must know that to Jane it would mean something else entirely.

Jane had wanted to take refuge in Maura and had somehow become lost in her. In the feel of her arms and the warmth she reserved solely for Jane, in the way Maura's eyes looked at Jane like she was a hero, like she was a saint. The other thought that took hold of Jane was that Maura had felt sorry for her and Jane could not allow that, she couldn't bare for Maura to kiss her out of pity.

"Forget about it Maur, really. Lets go to bed." Jane said calmly, taking Maura's hand and heaving them both up from the couch. For tonight Jane just wanted to sleep and she needed Maura for that. She couldn't afford for either of them to weird out. She would process this tomorrow.

Maura followed Jane's lead, not only across the room but also in putting the kiss as much out of her mind as she could. At least until she heard Jane's breathing slow and deepen into a rhythm indicative of sleep. Then Maura stiffened beside her friend as she replayed that moment over and over again in her mind. When she had finally accepted the inevitability of her own action, she was left to try and interpret Jane's reaction. The kiss hadn't broken them, Jane had not rejected her. Was Maura wrong to nurture the seed of hope that had sprung up in her? It was this question that followed Maura into sleep.

xxxxxx

Thanks y'all xx


	11. Time bomb

_**A/N- I have to admit to not hating Maura's new beard! But the Martinez thing is starting to make me throw up a little bit in my own mouth.**_

_"I thought you had a hot date with BT?"_

_"I thought you'd be fending off Martinez?"_

Yet here they sat, at their usual table, just the two of them.

It had been more than a week since their kiss and it had not been mentioned. There had been no real awkwardness, but no discussion, it was as if it hadn't really happened, except that it had.

Jane called over the waitress and ordered them both a drink and some french fries, ordering Maura her own portion without even asking. Maura stole a piece of kale from Jane's plate as if to balance out the badness and grinned across the table at Jane's look of mock outrage.

Maura liked Brandon, she really did, they had so much in common, he should be perfect for her. The thing she liked most about him was that he really seemed impressed by her knowledge, by her overly technical talk, he didn't roll his eyes, switch off, tease or ask her to translate, he just understood. It was refreshing, if a little unexpected.

"So, really Maur, what's the problem with BT? He have a genetic syndrome? A face licker? Fraudster? Not another serial killer?"

"I think he is socially awkward?" Maura said, leaning forward as if communicating a shocking secret.

"You do? ...And that bothers you?" Jane attempted to tread carefully.

Maura looked frustrated. "Well of course, I have spent a lot of time trying to become more socially calibrated and spending time with someone who has a similar lack of understanding of societal norms and appropriate discourse will be counter productive."

"Maur, you don't have to try to be anything, you are perfect just as you are." Jane said plainly. "and maybe it would be nice to have someone smart enough to understand everything you say." Jane added without much conviction.

Maura smiled but was quiet a little longer as if she was debating whether or not to go on. "It's silly but...what if he's smarter than I am?"

Jane was about to laugh but she caught the genuinely worried look on Maura's face. "Couldn't be." She dismissed.

Maura couldn't help the curl of her lips. "I mean, I like to be the one who has an explanation, empirical evidence, what can I tell him that he doesn't already know? " Maura shrugged helplessly.

Jane couldn't bear the troubled look she saw across the table.

"Maybe he isn't as great as he seems anyway, I mean on paper, sure he is Mr right but really, you would be constantly fighting over who would wash up the Petri dish and he'd be all up in your yoga room, who needs that? Plus a Bomb Tech isn't so bad ass, it sounds risky but, I mean how many bombs actually go off?" Jane scoffed.

"Bomb squads in most American cities received a three to four-fold increase in call outs immediately after the bombings at the Boston Marathon, 77 reports of suspicious packages were made in New York in the 24hours following the incident, compared with 21 reports that would be usual for that time frame and although a heightened public awareness would account for the surge, each call out must be dealt with as a potentially serious threat." Maura reeled off easily.

It was Jane's turn to be quiet. How would she deal with it, if B.T really was right for Maura? She had been poking fun at Maura about him all day in some vague attempt to get a rise out of her friend, get her to deny any attraction and Maura had been less than forthcoming about her feelings. Maybe that was because she could really like this one. Jane felt miserable at the thought and was relieved at the arrival of the waitress with their order.

"So what are you going to do?" Jane asked, digging into her fries.

Maura had been staring unseeing at her plate and looked up questioningly.

"About the bomb tech?" Jane went on.

Maura's face fell, were they back to that again? couldn't Jane let the matter drop? was she trying to tell Maura something?

"I suppose I should give him a chance? I do...I would like to be loved." Maura admitted, in a tone that suggested, though uncertainly, that her desire was not unreasonable.

Jane felt Maura's grip on her heart constrict painfully. She whipped out her arm quickly to trap Maura's hand beneath her own across the table, also pinning Maura with her warm brown eyes.

"Maur..." Jane entreated. "You must know you are loved? I..lo..."

"Not like that..." Maura interrupted, pulling her hand sharply away from Jane.

Maura turned her eyes away and noticed Giovanni enter the bar and head toward their table, she straightened and plastered on a smile, whilst Jane continued to stare at Maura, the Detective looking completely undone.

"Giovanni." Maura smiled politely, genuinely relieved that he had arrived at just that moment. "Always a pleasure."

Giovanni beamed at her. "Yeah, you too Maura. You're looking hot as ever." Maura nodded and offered Giovanni her seat as she excused herself. "I am just going to the ladies room."

Maura usually relished the sight of Giovanni, it meant that she and Jane would be obliged to behave like a couple, but tonight she couldn't stand the pretense and hoped Giovanni would soon be leaving.

"Hey G." Jane said. "Thanks for your help on the case, we got a great result."

Giovanni ignored her rare but genuine sincerity and glanced over his shoulder at the disappearing form of Maura. He almost pounced over the table at Jane.

" Word on the street is your messing around on Maura. Whats with the GI Joe, Janie?" He challenged.

"The street?" Jane questioned, stony faced, her fork clattering to her plate.

"I heard your Ma talking to Frankie at the cafe. That isn't the point." Giovanni continued. "Look, I know we got history, we grew up together, I love your Ma, but if you hurt the Doc..." He shook his head slowly, his hands gripping the table and his mouth pressed into an unhappy line.

Jane smiled despite herself and put up both her hands in surrender. "Okay G, I hear you. You have to believe me, hurting Maura is the last thing I would ever want to do."

Giovanni seemed to relax a little, keeping his face stern. "I mean it Jane, you two are my ultimate couple, so frickin hot, but you got all the other stuff 's good people and she loves you Jane. I mean, she gave up a chance with me to be with you. That's how much." He said with feeling, believing he had made his case completely.

Jane was tempted to be honest with Giovanni and finally give up their charade, except that she didn't have it in her to sit and explain over and over, the fact that they were not and would never be a real couple.

"Alright G, I will treat her right from now on, I promise." Jane swore.

"That's what I thought." Giovanni said smugly, getting up from the chair. "And you know if you ever find you miss the man thing again in the future." He actually pointed to his pants. "I could help you both out and nobody needs to get hurt...y'know?"

Jane grimaced.

xxxxxx

"Did you speak to Casey earlier?" Maura wanted to know but was almost afraid to ask.

"No." Jane said unhappily. "For all that Martinez is a womanizing player, who just wants something because he thinks he can't have it. At least he is clear that he wants me."

"Crystal." smirked Maura.

Jane sighed. "Casey on the other hand, he's hot, he's cold..." Jane said swishing her hand through the air from one side to the next as they walked. "He is lukewarm at best."

"Tepid." Maura supplied with a nod of understanding.

Jane raised an eyebrow, but then nodded grudgingly. "Yeah, so let's not dwell on that tonight."

As Jane walked with Maura to her door, the darkness made her feel suddenly brave, she wanted to recapture some of the warmth that walking together had given her before the mention of Casey, so she pulled Maura in to her, linking their arms. That was when she felt Maura stiffen.

"Do you want me to call you a cab?" Maura asked as they reached her front door.

Jane frowned, she had been planning to get comfortable on the couch, but it was more the fact that Maura hadn't even opened the door, hadn't just assumed she was coming in, that started the alarm bells ringing.

"Well, I guess, that would be good...I hadn't really thought about it yet...Maur...are we okay?" Jane asked with a look of consternation.

Maura needed extra effort to swallow. "Of course, I am just really tired, I spent all last night at work so..."

Jane didn't feel reassured. Being tired was not automatically a reason for Maura to kick Jane out, they would often nap in one another's company, but it was Maura's body language more than anything that unsettled Jane. Jane had done something to upset Maura and she had no idea what.

"Okay, so call me a cab, I'll go see if Ma is around while I wait and I'll catch up with you tomorrow?" Jane said as she ran a hand up and down Maura's arm, noticing Maura slightly shrink away from the touch.

Maura forced a smile and nodded soundlessly, reaching to put her keys in the door and after another parting smile, stepping into the safety of her home.

"Goodnight Jane." Maura said quietly.

Jane stood still, she felt winded, what the hell had she done now?

xxxxxxx


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N- So this started out as a lighthearted comment on the episodes and then became a little sad as I got more dissatisfied with the show, so I am trying to get back some of the fun and set things up for possibly the last chapter...depending on tonights show. I am feeling very anxious about the Casey factor tonight.**_

Jane had called Maura early to see if she wanted to go for a run and been fobbed off, she had suggested Maura could pick her up and take her into work, being that Jane had left her car there when she had gone to the Robber last night. She had even insisted that Maura could do all of the driving and promised not to lay a finger on the car stereo. Maura had agreed to help Jane out but had seemed less than enthusiastic. Maura was still being slightly off with her and Jane didn't really know why.

Things hadn't been any better on the unusually quiet ride into work. Maura had been slow in replying to Jane's messages and even ignored a couple and had skipped lunch to catch up on paperwork.

When Jane finally marched into the Medical Examiner's office and demanded Maura join her in the Cafe for something other than coffee, as Maura was currently weening her off her addiction, Maura had little choice but to join her friend. Jane had been on her best behaviour all day and Maura's passive aggressive bullshit was starting to get old, it had gone beyond their usual harmless, even playful bickering and Jane was about to call her friend out on it.

Jane's phone had buzzed, with the news about Judge Harper's death and a sudden truce had been called between them. They knew the Judge, they admired her, and she had been murdered. They would ignore whatever was going on between them personally and come together as the amazing team they were, to solve this case.

Xxx

Case solved, Jane felt like without really addressing what was bothering Maura, some of the tension had never the less dissolved and Maura had happily followed Jane to the Dirty Robber just in time for Tommy's big announcement. There was a definite celebratory feeling in the air, Angela looked as though a weight had been lifted from her and she and Korsak seemed to be getting on very well.

Tommy was re-telling the story of his brush with death in the building collapse to a group of strangers in the bar who had come to thank him for the round of drinks he had just bought for everyone.

Jane was propped against the bar beside Maura, watching her brother and enjoying his obvious excitement.

Maura had ordered a bottle of champagne, in keeping with the occasion and the second glass was very quickly going to her head.

"Why do you do that?" Maura asked suddenly.

"What?" Jane questioned, turning her attention to Maura.

"The comment to Tommy, about keeping his hands where you can see them?" Maura asked simply.

"It was a joke Maur, you know he's tried his luck before, he wouldn't hesitate to try again if he thought he had a chance." Jane shrugged but looked a little uncomfortable as she finished her beer.

"Well, there is no chance of that with you around to stand guard." Maura had meant for this to sound more teasing and less bitter than it had come off.

Jane frowned and glanced back toward her brother. Jane had made the comment without thinking, she didn't really believe Tommy would get anywhere with Maura but it didn't prevent just a little jealousy when she least expected it.

"It's not just with Tommy though is it Jane? You teased me relentlessly about B.T, you didn't like Dennis or Dr Slucky, you were very suspicious of Ian. You didn't think I should date Giovanni. You hated Garret Fairfield. I don't think you have ever approved of anyone I have dated, ever."

"I guess...I just think you are too good for any of those guys...they did all turn out to be...you know...awful..." Jane said, putting it mildly.

Maura sighed. "That's true." Still Maura felt unsatisfied. "There is nothing more to it than that?"

"Like what?" Jane puffed defensively.

Maura seemed to be trying to conjure something up from the vast stores of her brain.

"Cock blocking!" Maura called out triumphantly, as the term she had once read about suddenly fulfilled it's potential for usage. Maura looked gleeful at her use of slang.

Jane quickly shot a look around the bar to see if anyone had overheard, fortunately it didn't appear so.

"Maura!" She admonished.

"It refers to the..."

"I know what it refers to!" Hissed Jane. "I do not cock block... and if I did it would be for your own good. As soon as you find someone half decent I swear to get well away from that particular piece of his equipment."

Maura didn't mention B.T, she hadn't heard from him or mentioned him and Jane had mercifully stopped bringing him up.

"So, who do you propose would be a good date for me?" Maura went on, raising her champagne flute to take in the room. Pickings were exceptionally slim in here tonight, but that wasn't really the point.

"Perhaps I should try an older man? Sargent Korsak is kind, he has plenty of experience and he's available, unless he and your mother.?.."

"Yeah he has plenty of experience, 3 ex wives and a cholesterol problem!" Jane shot, she didn't like where this discussion was going.

Just then Detective Frost and Frankie sauntered into the bar, sharing a joke and chuckling to one another, like a pair of naughty school boys.

Maura considered the pair. "I suppose Frankie is subject to the same objections that you have about me dating Tommy? Some strange family code? I still don't fully understand."

"Exactly." Jane agreed, grabbing quickly for her next beer.

"Oooh, Detective Frost, why have you never thought to hook me into him? You like him, he is very handsome..."

"Up Maura, Hook you up. And no I have never thought to hook you up with Frost, it is a very bad idea to date someone that you work so closely with." Jane said, relieved that she had a reasonable explanation for her objections for a change.

"Is _that_ why _we_ have never hooked up?" Maura asked, looking up at Jane seriously.

Jane was silent, they had played this game before, literally flirting with the idea of them as a couple, but now Jane spent more and more time trying to figure out exactly how to answer questions like this and imaging what would happen if one day she just tried the truth; that she would be more than happy to date Maura if she thought the Doctor felt half the passion for Jane that the Detective felt for her.

"I don't know Maur, sounds like as good a reason as any." Jane shrugged, avoiding Maura's gaze.

"A study into marriage in 2010 found that the most common way to meet a future spouse is through school or work. It is particularly the case with people in occupations with long and unsociable hours..." Maura began.

Jane sighed deeply. "Is this your way of telling me you want to date Frost?"

Maura took Jane's beer from her hand and set it on the bar, which required her to lean into the Detective. She then took both Jane's hands in her own and pulled them around to encircle her waist as she moved into the embrace and kissed Jane lightly on the mouth.

Maura pulled back slightly to look Jane in the eye, Jane still had her arms around her friend and had fit her hands against the small of her back without thinking.

"Jane, I think that it's time you took me home." Maura told her simply.

Jane's tongue traced her bottom lip, trying to recapture the taste of Maura.

"It's like...nine thirty..." Jane got out as she sent a furtive glance around the bar, wondering how on earth no one had noticed or was watching this display.

"It's time." Maura insisted, wrapping her arms around Jane's neck.

Jane's gulp was almost audible. "Ohhhh. Oh. Kaayy." She nodded, a lot.

The sound of a throat clearing at Jane's shoulder broke the spell.

"Jane?" It was Korsak, looking uncomfortable and holding up a giggling Angela. "I think maybe it's time your Ma went home...If you want me to help you get her into a cab..."

Angela hiccuped loudly and giggled again, brushing her fingers through Korsak's hair and paying no attention to her daughter.

"Ma?" Jane tried. "You okay?"

"Jane? You should take back what you said about Mark the shark...he shhaved me and Tommy...Tommy is a good boy Jane...I always told you he was a good boy... So... I dropped him on his head...one time! Having three children is exhaussssting!" Angela slurred, pointing her finger in the air as she spoke.

Jane realised suddenly that her hands were still sat comfortably against Maura's lower back, she gave Maura's waist a small regretful squeeze as she dragged her hands out of their position and returned them heavily to her sides.

Maura took one step away from Jane, the confidence that she had been filled with a moment ago quickly dissipating.

"Come on Angela." Maura said, crossing to one side of Jane's mother and placing herself beneath her shoulder, an arm steadying her from behind. "We'll get you home and get you some coffee."

"Kay...No Panda poop in mine Maura...I'm feeling a little nauseated..." Angela whispered loudly as she stumbled a little, until Jane relieved Korsak and propped up her Ma on the opposite side to Maura.

"Maur? Your research tell you what the female equivalent to cock-blocking is?" Jane said quietly over Angela's head.

Maura smiled wide. "It didn't...but if you like I could come up with a few..."

"That's okay!" Jane called. "This night is already so much fun!" Jane grumbled, as the three of them moved shakily toward the door.

xxxx


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N-So...summer finale, wowzer! I have to say I thought it was a great episode, good crime, plenty of Rizzles. I totally blocked out Casey so, it was good for me. Anyways here is my ending.**_

Maura could feel her eyes filling with tears as she heard the words.

_"Unless I marry him."_

Maura tried to read Jane's face, was she saying that she would marry him? That she wasn't sure?

"I don't know what to do." Jane whispered.

Maura could hear the plea in Jane's tone. Jane was asking for Maura's opinion. Maura could feel her hands trembling and looked over Jane's shoulder at the door they had just come through.

"I need to...just, excuse me a moment." Maura said as she moved past Jane and headed for the door.

She slipped plast the nurse who had come to ask her to fill out some more paperwork and pushed open the door at the main entrance, feeling an instant release as the fresh air hit her face and the tears came.

A moment later as she stifled a sob, one hand covering her mouth and the other clutching at her stomach as she bent double, she heard the door banging in it's frame again. She turned her back on Jane and swallowed down another sob, desperately trying to blink away tears and catch her breath.

"Maura?" Jane asked, without coming any closer.

Maura had put Casey out of her mind as much as possible over the past few months. When Jane had thrown in the mention of his visit a few days ago Maura had hardly reacted. There was no denying that the friends chemistry was as present as always and they got closer with each passing day, each case, each family drama, but it was also easy for them to revert back to the safety of the uncomplicated friendship they had always known. Maura had thought she could get through Casey's stay and things would go back to normal. She hadn't expected this.

Now Jane closed the gap between them and put her hand on Maura's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Maura nodded and swiped a final time at her eyes before turning to face Jane.

"Yes, of course. I just felt a little overwhelmed in there...Patrick senior and all of this.." Maura explained. "It makes you think...about the future." Maura wrapped her arms around her chest, holding herself together defensively.

"I guess..." Jane said, a little puzzled by Maura's words.

"About ending up in a place like this...ending up alone." Maura went on cooly.

"That would never ..." Jane protested.

"Perhaps Kailan would be the one to drop me off, sign the papers." Maura wondered aloud. "I can imagine you and Casey with children, grandchildren, a loud busy home." Maura smiled, she had often thought what a wonderful mother Jane would make, most people wouldn't imagine it.

"Maura...I haven't said, I don't know..." Jane took Maura's hand and guided one raised arm out from it's tightly wound barrier. Jane stepped closer and Maura let her other arm fall to her side. Jane cupped Maura's face in her palm and brushed the cheek with her thumb. Maura exhaled a shuddering breath and her eyes closed as she pressed into the touch.

The door sounded again.

"There you are!" Casey called. "I think they have a few more things for Maura to sign and then we can go. Paddy seems pretty happy."

Jane had pulled away from Maura and gave Casey a small smile before turning back to Maura with a look of concern. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly.

"Of course." Maura said clearly, striding past Jane and back toward the door which Casey held open for her as she approached.

xxxx

That evening Maura paced around her house aimlessly, looking for something, anything to do to distract herself from thoughts of Jane, of Jane and Casey. She had put away all the things that she had used or purchased for Patrick, she had spruced up the guest house a little to welcome Angela home, she had reorganized each of her kitchen cupboards and was just considering moving some items of furniture in order to clean beneath or behind them when she was startled by a hammering on her door.

Maura rushed to answer and was not wholly surprised to find a disheveled looking Jane on the doorstep. Jane passed Maura and came right in.

"Jesus Maura...I told him to go!" Jane burst suddenly, her eyes bright, her hands on her hips.

"What? But I thought?"

"Yeah, I told him to leave." Jane said quickly. "I told him that he wasn't the only one who loved their job. That I didn't blame him for struggling to choose. That I would always love my job more than him, so I understood." Jane had walked into the center of the room and spread her arms. She felt free.

"You, told him to leave?" Maura repeated as if she hadn't heard the rest.

"He's gone." Jane assured as she came close and took hold of Maura's arms. Jane looked like she was running on pure adrenalin. Maura attempted to stay calm.

"You do love your job Jane, I have never seen anyone so..."

"That isn't it." Jane interrupted. "I was trying to think...could I do it.?...could I leave my job for someone, for anyone? ...for you?"

Maura shook her head, appalled. "I would never ask you to..."

"I'd do it!" Jane said quickly. "If you needed me too, if you wanted me, I could, for you."

Maura was frozen, scared to move, afraid to breathe.

"And I wouldn't ask _you_ to decide, give you an ultimatum, I certainly wouldn't ask you over drinks at the Dirty Robber." Jane shook her head with a frown.

" I would just be there...every single day, I'd help you with your scuzzy Grandpa and I'd hang out with your messy half sister and I'd meditate and eat at least one leafy green a day and I'd cut down on my coffee and I wouldn't make you guess...Maura, I would do anything for you." Jane insisted. "Anything."

Maura was laughing hopefully, through her tears. "But you...you love Casey...you told me that..."

Jane chewed on her lip as she searched for a way to explain herself. "I did, I thought I did...maybe I do, in a way." Jane shook her head, unhappy with her words. "It's not the same."

Maura waited.

"I asked him, what my tell was?" Jane began again. "I asked him...how he would know if something was bothering me. He shrugged, said...I'd make it obvious. I don't think he knew me at all. You are the only one, the only one who knows me." Jane said. "You are what I couldn't ever give up and I don't know why it has taken me so long to tell you this..."

Maura threw her arms around Jane's neck and her lips securely upon her mouth.

"MmmSorrry." She mumbled into the kiss. "Immm couldn't wait any longer." Maura pulled back to explain. "I want you Jane. I have been wanting you. So much. For so long."

Jane grinned and dipped her lips back for more as she folded Maura into her arms.

"Don't apologize." She said. "We have a lot of time to make up for."

Maura took this as permission and kissed Jane deeply as she pushed the Detective to the couch.

"Jane?" She purred as she settled herself onto Jane's lap. "Is this really because he cleaned out your fridge?"

Jane pretended to seriously consider this, rolling her eyes up to top of her head and then grinning as she nodded.

"That could certainly be what killed it." She joked as she stole another kiss.

Xxxxx

_**A/N- Thanks for joining me for this one folks. I am now looking forward to writing more of my AU where Casey doesn't even exist!**_


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